Category: AGD

In AGD

It’s been a heck of a decade, to say the least. When the new century opened up, we were worried about Y2K. Words like the iPod, Facebook and YouTube had yet to enter the cultural lexicon…or even exist for that matter. 9/11 was just a date on the calendar, Saddam Hussein was still in power and Barack Obama was still hanging out in the Illinois Senate. As the second decade of the 21st century looms, the world is a very different place.

Extempers have had a full plate over the past ten years as they grappled with the issues of the day. What is particularly striking about this is that some of these events took place while you were still watching Sesame Street in your Underoos.

Simple question to wrap this up: What big story (or stories) did Newsweek miss?

AGD: We Are of Peace. Always.

By Logan Scisco

On November 6, 2009

In AGD

Which charismatic leader is less likely to be a lizard from outer space? You decide.

by Corey Alderdice

President Obama is a alien lizard from outer space.

It’s not the claim of opponents of the President’s healthcare reform efforts. Instead, it seems to be the allegorical underpinning of ABC’s reimagining of the early 1980s television miniseries V.

Anyone who has sat through an honors high school English class where they read George Orwell’s Animal Farm can attest to the power of achieving political commentary through the use of allegory. As it turns out, a pig is not always just a pig nor is a horse always just a horse. In the case of V, a story about an alien invasion is not just a sci-fi yarn about visitors from another planet.

An article from Slate this week poses the question “Is V a political allegory?”:

More than a few journalists and bloggers have remarked that it’s possible to read V as an allegory hostile to President Obama and sympathetic with the birthers and other nutcases who believe him to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The charismatic Visitors load up their “bandwagon” by “spreading hope.” In using their sophisticated iguana technology to provide free medical services, they promise “universal health care.” Indeed, if the show is to have the symbolic import that we expect from a science-fiction story, this is the only possible way to read V as a coherent text.

The original miniseries, which aired in 1983-84, did not seem to hide its message. The Visitors from the series were painted as Nazis, building upon a generation still very familiar with the ramifications of WWII and the Nazi occupation of Europe. Still entrenched in the Cold War, it had a resonate message for American audiences.

AGD: Sesame Street Is as Old as Your Parents

By Logan Scisco

On November 4, 2009

In AGD

by Corey Alderdice

The black and white television in the spare bedroom of my grandmother’s house had a twice-daily appointment during my childhood: Sesame Street. Shortly after consumption of a bowl of cereal in the mornings and somewhere just beyond nap-time and reruns of the A-Team in the afternoons came my daily childhood instruction.

Over the years, our furry friends from that fictional New York borough have built quite the pedigree (122 Emmy wins and broadcasts in 140 countries worldwide). In addition to being woven into the very fabric of American culture, the folks at the Workshop have another milestone to celebrate next week: 40 years of television history. Since it’s inception four decades ago, Sesame Street has made a lasting impression on countless children who are now well into adulthood. When the show began, the landscape of both television and culture were very different.

The New York Daily News sums it up nicely:

The groundbreaking show, produced by the Children’s Television Workshop and a staple of public broadcasting, was years ahead of its time in promoting values that are now taken for granted in many places – accepting and appreciating diversity, not making assumptions based on gender, and being sensitive to cultural and economic differences, are all ideas the show emphasized before it was fashionable to do so.

The show has changed over the years in many ways. What was once a program intended to supplement learning for inner city children has become a cultural mainstay.

Election 2009 Predictions

By geniao44446

On November 3, 2009

In AGD

Credit: Brooklyn Paper

Since today is the first Tuesday in November, it’s election day for 2009. Voters cast ballots today in governor’s races in Virginia and New Jersey, the New York City mayoral race, and the special election in the 23rd House district in New York.

Elliot Mamet of East High School commented on our facebook page that he anticipates Jon Corzine, the Democratic incumbent in the New Jersey race, to pull out a victory over Republican challenger Chris Christie thanks to independent candidate Chris Daggett peeling away some of Christie’s votes.

Does the political insider of Extemp Central agree or disagree? Read more to find out his predictions for today’s elections!

AGD: HBO Documentary Spotlights Obama Election One Year Later

By Logan Scisco

On November 3, 2009

In AGD

HBO Image

It’s the first Tuesday of November in America, and that means one thing: Election Day. Though it does not, perhaps, hold the same gravitas as a year ago, HBO is capitalizing on the day to premiere the documentary By the People: The Election of Barack Obama. The film airs tonight at 9 p.m. EST. Look for it to be added to HBO’s on-demand lineup later this week as well.

Even though the film strikes a feel-good tone, it may very well drop on a highly inopportune time for the Obama camp. Tensions linger of his Nobel Peace Prize award, the battle for healthcare reform becomes further entrenched, and a decision on strategy in Afghanistan looms. The celebratory tone of the piece may have been appropriate one year ago. As reality sets in today, that enthusiasm is harder to muster for some critics.

HBO’s p.r. for the documentary describes it as such:

Nearly a year before Barack Obama announced his candidacy for the presidency on Feb. 10, 2007, filmmakers Amy Rice and Alicia Sams began to roll cameras on the young senator. Over the next 19 months, they found themselves traveling all across the country, chronicling the daily ups and downs of the campaign trail as experienced by Obama, his family, his staff and volunteers. While Obama’s meteoric rise to the White House has been well documented in the press, few have witnessed the behind-the- scenes story of the passionate campaigners who helped a young African-American freshman senator attain the nation’s highest office.

AGD: The Death of Newsprint

By Logan Scisco

On October 28, 2009

In AGD

It's like the sound the coyote makes when falling off the cliff in those old cartoons.

by Corey Alderdice

I wouldn’t want to be a newspaper right now. Other than the limited color scheme, short life span, the constant risk of being recycled and competition from techno-wonders like the Nook and Kindle, it turns out that the last few months have been killer for the folks in the print side of the mainstream media.

According to the New York Times (notice the hyperlink to underscore the point in play), circulation of United States daily newspapers is down by 10% over the last 6 months. The story is particularly bleak as one realizes that mainstays such as the San Francisco Chronicle, Star-Ledger of Newark and Dallas Morning News have lost over 20% of their readership in the last 12 months.

According to the Times, two major factors are at work against the industry:

The figures join a list of indicators of the industry’s health — like advertising and newsroom headcounts — that, after years of slipping, have accelerated sharply downward, as newspapers face the greatest threats since the Depression. Through the 1990s and into this decade, newspaper circulation was sliding, but by less than 1 percent a year. Then the rate of decline topped 2 percent in 2005, 3 percent in 2007 and 4 percent in 2008.

It comes as no surprise that more and more readers are turning to the internet for their news. When online, however, they are still visiting the journalistic mainstays in addition to new media outlets.

AGD: To Mars and Back in 80 Days?

By Logan Scisco

On October 25, 2009

In AGD

by Corey Alderdice

Jules Verne would be jealous. Instead of simply traveling around the world in 80 days, it looks as though adventurers may soon have the potential to go to the red planet and back in the same time.

The U.S. space program, like the nation’s automotive industry, ain’t what it used to be. What once seemed like innovative plans to send humans to the moon once more have been bypassed for attempts to blow it up. However, some individuals are pushing past Earth’s only satellite altogether in search of the next great frontier: Mars. Sure, we’ve sent lots of pieces of metal in that direction but never human beings. It’s an innovative plan, but current technology means a trip there and back would take around two-and-a-half years. Talk about cabin fever.

A new technology, though, hopes to cut that trip to around 39 days each way. The New Scientist explains:

There’s a growing chorus of calls to send astronauts to Mars rather than the moon, but critics point out that such trips would be long and gruelling, taking about six months to reach the Red Planet. But now, researchers are testing a powerful new ion engine that could one day shorten the journey to just 39 days.

Traditional rockets burn chemical fuel to produce thrust. Most of that fuel is used up in the initial push off the Earth’s surface, so the rockets tend to coast most of the time they’re in space.

Ion engines, on the other hand, accelerate electrically charged atoms, or ions, through an electric field, thereby pushing the spacecraft in the opposite direction. They provide much less thrust at a given moment than do chemical rockets, which means they can’t break free of the Earth’s gravity on their own.

The space program was a hallmark of twentieth century politics, global competition, innovation, ingenuity and American education. While the talk is bold, deficit hawks claim NASA’s overall plans are too costly.

With NASA’s Ares I-X rocket scheduled for its first launch next week, eyes will be looking skyward. Where should NASA and other global space programs go from here? We’d like your thoughts.

AGD: The Buzzword

By Logan Scisco

On October 22, 2009

In AGD

by Corey Alderdice

Even though the worlds of forensics and technology have yet to find a way to come together during tournament competitions, it seems as though both coaches and students have embraced technology as a way to hone our skills before entering rounds.

In many ways, the emergence of technology has benefited students participating in limited prep events. The notion of actually “cutting files” has mostly gone the way of VHS and cassettes. The internet has provided students with numerous resources for researching issues and topics, communicating and facilitating the community aspects of our activity, and even looking stylish outside of rounds. (I couldn’t help the plug.)

However, this may be a gadget that holds the most promise for extemporaneous speakers. Everyone has their verbal crutches and stumbling blocks. Hearing the phrase “we can see” in any event is like nails on a chalk board for me. Moreover, little words like “uh”, “um”, and “like” not only interrupt fluidity in performance but also detract from the overall credibility of a competitor.

When I was a student, we would have group coaching sessions where everyone would shout and throw paper wads when you said a crutch word–a strategy that is both bad for the environment and your confidence as well. That’s why the Buzzword could be just about the neatest gizmo for folks of the LP persuasion.

According to the Think Geek-the product’s supplier-it could be a “shockingly” simple step toward making you a more polished speaker.

We all have verbal tics, words our mouth fills in while we’re talking but our brain’s off processing something else. The trick is that we’re rarely conscious of them. The manufacturer of Buzzword has worked out a way to change that. They’ve made a wristband that has a microphone which allows you to train it to recognize when you use certain crutch words in your speech, such as “like” or “you know.” After training it, you slide it on your wrist and it gives you a reminder when it hears you use that word — a small shock. Soon your subconscious is associating those words with an unpleasant sensation, and before you know it, you sound more polished and professional.

Best of all, the control panel allows you to track usage of your buzzwords over time to monitor improvement.

There’s just one problem: The Buzzword was an April Fool’s joke. We’d love to see this become a reality, though.

That leads us to a question for you: What kind of technology or device would make your speech life easier?

AGD: In a Down Economy Shopping Becomes Entertainment

By Logan Scisco

On October 15, 2009

In AGD

Photo Illustration/CNN

by Corey Alderdice

When Steve Jobs joined Disney’s board of directors with the Mouse-Ears Company’s acquisition of Pixar, the company hoped Jobs work a bit of that Apple magic for them as well.

With Jobs’ insight and blessing, Disney intends to borrow heavily from Apple’s playbook and their Apple Retail Stores in a forthcoming update to the Disney Store chain.

It’s not just about new shelves and a fresh coat of paint. As many stores are just trying to get by amid slumping sales, Disney is rushing toward a major investment. The key is not so much a change in product, but the actual experience of shopping at a Disney store. After all, the company that’s all about entertaining your family at the movies, on Broadway, and in theme parks worldwide might as well have your attention at the local mall. The New York Times explains:

Disney Stores, which the media giant is considering rebranding Imagination Park, will become more akin to cozy entertainment hubs. The chain’s traditional approach of displaying row after row of toys and apparel geared to Disney franchises will be given a high-tech makeover and incorporated into a new array of recreational activities. The goal is to make children clamor to visit the stores and stay longer, perhaps bolstering sales as a result. Over the next five years, analysts estimate that Disney will spend about $1 million a store to redecorate, reorganize and install interactive technology.

“The world does not need another place to sell Disney merchandise — this only works if it’s an experience,” said Jim Fielding, president of Disney Stores Worldwide. The company plans to unveil the new look in May in Southern California, Long Island and Madrid, and is close to signing a lease for that Times Square flagship.

Where does this fit into your speech? As the recession lingers, questions about the economic outlook will find themselves into each tournament. Moreover, as we approach what is expected to be another glum holiday shopping season, questions will pop up about the retail outlook. You might even work this into a speech about reinvention, the need to try something new, or other situations where change is happening in business or industry.

AGD: AskMen Names Don Draper Most Influential Man of 2009

By Logan Scisco

On October 10, 2009

In AGD

30 minutes is more than enough time for Don Draper to prepare an extemp speech.

Extemp often comes down to knowing who the most important and influential players are across the world. From heads of state, to despots and innovators alike, the names and personalities of these individuals are the underpinning of our most important debates…and extemp speeches.

It’s very strange, then, that AskMen’s Most Influential Man of 2009 is, well, not really a man at all. He’s fictional character Don Draper, man’s-man-ladies’-man-man-about-town of the AMC television drama Mad Men.

How exactly does Draper beat out 48 other real-life personages like Usain Bolt, Bararck Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, and Steve Jobs? Heck, how do you beat a Nobel Peace Prize winner? How is it that a man of the 1960’s is the man of import for the twenty-first century? AskMen.com explains:

It may seem strange, at first, to accept the idea that a fictional character trumped an athlete who embodies our ideals of a timeless Olympian (Bolt) and a politician who personifies mankind’s ongoing fight for equality (Obama), but Don Draper did just that. It’s not that Don Draper, the character, is ultimately more important to the history of the 21st century than Bolt and Obama; it’s that he embodies the character traits that the 21st century man wants to have and, at the same time, he is not without his flaws. He is the Everyman without being an actual man at all.

Read the full story on why Don Draper resonates with modern audiences. Also AskMen.com asks “Why Does Everyone Want to be Don Draper except Don Draper?”

Via Yahoo OMG!

AGD: The Top 8 of 2008 CEO Compensation

By Logan Scisco

On October 7, 2009

In AGD

GOOD’s executive compensation infographic shows the ridiculous levels of the global leaders in salary for 2008. Pay close attention to the number of minimum wage earners each CEO’s take-home pay would support. They are, you know, standing on the backs of the workers. Since debate over executive compensation doesn’t appear to be going away any time soon, these numbers are handy to have at hand, and the comparison makes for an interesting statistic.

Via BoingBoing and Good

AGD: Auto-Tune the News

By Logan Scisco

On October 3, 2009

In AGD

Last weekend, we showed you The Economist’s “Did You Know 4.0” video. This week, we spotlight another internet novelty as part of a new series called AGD. Similar to the attention-getting devices used in speeches, we’ll spotlight news, novelties, and nonsense around the internet each week that should catch your attention and maybe even your audience’s as well.

Dragons in Congress, Michael Vick returns to the NFL, and geese get a no-fly zone in NYC.

They’re all part of this week’s headlines, and they’re also featured in the latest installment of auto-tune the news.

A 24-year-old Brooklyn musician named Michael Gregory has combined a number of evening news broadcast clips and turned them into an R&B/hip-hop/technco-music extravaganza called Auto-Tune the News.

Time magazine sums up the series and what auto-tune is for the uninformed:

For those unaware, Auto-Tune is a software program that alters singers’ voices to achieve perfect pitch. Used too much — or when they’re not actually singing because, y’know, they’re on the news — it makes people sound electronic. Cher was the first to use Auto-Tune in her 1998 hit “Believe,” and since then everyone from Kanye West to Faith Hill has gotten by with a little technical assistance. (Auto-Tune isn’t always a way to cheat; Daft Punk turned it into another instrument when they wanted to go all futuristic/animated in their video, “One More Time”).

The group has produced several videos in the series for the enjoyment of “shawteys” everywhere. You can find them all on their YouTube channel.

AGD: The Economist Releases “Did You Know” 4.0 Video

By Logan Scisco

On September 26, 2009

In AGD

One of the most important skills for an Extemper to master is gaining an understanding of the global landscape. We certainly can’t be experts on all topics at all times; however, it’s important to not only see but also recognize the shifts in the big picture.

The above clip is the latest video in the “Shift Happens” video series by The Economist + XPLANE and visualizes in beautiful fashion a “Did You Know” 4.0 summary of the way media in converging in 2009. If you’ve not seen the previous videos, there is Did You Know 3.0, Did You Know 2.0 and Did You Know 1.0.

From The Economist’s Media Convergence Forum page:

The surge of new technologies and social media innovations in today’s environment is significantly altering the future media landscape for marketers. Consumer behavior is changing and the way marketers reach their audience must also change. Marketers are searching for new ways to not only reach their customers, but to understand them, to peer inside their minds. As the level of consumer understanding increases, so can the knowledge of how best to reach them. However the plethora of tools at a marketers disposal is not easy to navigate and real learning comes from a real understanding of the future of media convergence.

An enjoyable watch. If nothing else, the video has some useful stats to pepper in AGDs, speeches, or polite conversation on elevators.